Hong Kong passes minimum wage law

[emazur]

http://www.asianreporter.com/paper/2010-21-Aug 2-pp01-10.pdf

HONG KONG — Hong Kong has
passed a minimum wage law, a rare
departure from the wealthy Chinese
financial hub’s free-market philosophy that
union leaders hailed as a victory for the
territory’s underpaid working class.
Legislator and union organizer Lee Cheukyan
called the vote a historic moment
requiring the Hong Kong government to set a
minimum wage for the first time in the city’s
history.
“This symbolizes that Hong Kong has said
goodbye to shameful wages and embraced
social justice for workers. This means goodbye
to unfettered capitalism,” Lee said.
However, the law doesn’t cover the nearly
280,000 mostly Filipino and Indonesian
domestic workers employed as live-in help for
Hong Kong families. They are currently
promised a monthly minimum wage of 3,580
Hong Kong dollars ($450).

Tsang will propose the first minimum wage
level in November, Cheung said. The current
consensus ranges from the HK$24.00 ($3.00)
an hour backed by business interests to the
HK$33.00 ($4.00) demanded by local unions—
about the price of a fast-food meal and still low
in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The federal minimum wage in the United
States is $7.25; in Britain, it’s 5.80 pounds
($9.00); in Canada, it ranges from 8.00 to 10.25
Canadian dollars ($7.60 to $9.70) depending
on province; in New Zealand, it’s 12.75 New
Zealand dollars ($9.00).
Hong Kong is one of the world’s richest
territories, with a 2008 per capita GDP of
$30,863, but is also among the most stratified
economies. It came last in income equality
among the 38 countries and territories the
United Nations Development Programme’s
2009 Human Development Report ranked as
the world’s most advanced.

 

[Cdn_for_liberty]

the end of an experiment. Milton Friedman rolling in his grave

http://www.economist.com/node/16591088

excellent article on how HK moved away from capitalism a long time ago. I think Stossel and Johan Norberg really overstated HK's free market capitalism.

 

[swirling_vortex]

Unions. What won't they screw up. I guess 4.9% unemployment is too much "unfettered capitalism" for them.